Galaxy Watch 4 Touch Bezel Fix Lands In Time For New Slideshow App
For quite some time, Samsung's smartwatches were defined by a unique physical control that some regarded as more useful than the Apple Watch's digital crown. Recently, however, the Galaxy Watch's signature rotating bezel faded into the background, appearing only in some "Classic" models. For most models, Samsung opted to use a "virtual" touch bezel that relied on touch-sensitive areas around the edge of the screen. Unfortunately, the Galaxy Watch 4's implementation was apparently buggy, but, fortunately, Samsung just pushed a fix in time for the arrival of a new app that could utilize this feature.
The rotating bezel has traditionally been a mark of sports watches, but Samsung repurposed it into an actual control that is often mapped to a scrolling action on the UI. When it removed that physical mechanism from the Galaxy Watch Active 2, it had to replace it with a touch-based alternative. The non-Classic Galaxy Watch 4 inherited that trait, but users reported it to have a showstopping bug.
Some Galaxy Watch 4 owners experienced scrolling issues with the virtual bezel, which is a critical flaw considering that's the primary use of that feature. A new firmware update, fortunately, addresses that and promises improved stability as well. Whether that actually fixes the bug remains to be seen.
The timing of the bug fix, however, is almost too perfect. Samsung just launched a new app for its Wear OS-based Galaxy Watch 4, though it's actually an old app if you consider its older smartwatches. The Samsung PPT Controller does exactly what its name says, allowing you to control slideshows on your computer from your Galaxy Watch. While you can definitely use touch screen buttons to move back and forth through the slideshow, it's much more convenient to glide your finger on the touch bezel or rotate that bezel if you have the Galaxy Watch 4 Classic.
This PPT controller is just the latest new Samsung app to arrive for the Galaxy Watch 4 and, therefore, on Wear OS. This one has been around on Tizen-based smartwatches, however, and was just left behind in the move to Wear OS. It's not clear, though, whether this app is exclusive to the Galaxy Watch 4 series or if it can be installed on any Wear OS device.